Trolley-wheel.



J. C. DARNALL.

TROLLEY WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 5. 1916.

Patented'Apr. 15, 1919.

ATTQPA fv 1 7 ran srArE s PATENT WW OHN G. DARNALL, or cmcmnarr, OHIO.

TROLLEY-WHE'EL.

To all whom c't may concern: 1

Be ,it known thatI, JOHN G.DARNALL, a citizen of the UnitedStates'of America, and a resident of Cincinnati, in thecounty of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Trolley-Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to trolley-wheels of the double rotary-motion or compensating type in which the wheel automatically adapts itself to curves and irregularities in the trolley-wire and thereby maintains its place on the latter without undue friction or wear and at immaterial increased expense.

The objects and structure of my invention herein will be fully referred to in the description of the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view, omitting the pole; Fig. 2, a side elevation of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a perspective view of the harp or supporting fork, omitting the wheel and its compensating devices andbearings; Fig. 4, a side elevation of one of. the combined cam-faced bearing-blocks for the wheel, showing the outer face thereof; Fig. 5, a plan of Fig. 4; Fig. 6, a detail perspective of one ofthe bars or strips used in attaching the inner ends of the. resilient auxiliary contact or bridge plates tothe inner ends of the forloarms;

Fig. 7, a side elevation of the wheel, omitting the harp and bearings; 8, a longitudinal section of the preferred form of trolleywheel used by me herein, showing part of its rim broken away; Fig. 9, a transverse sec tion of the trolley-Wheel shown in Fig. 8, taken on a vertical axial line; Fig. 10, a side elevation of one of said auxiliary contact or bridge plates; Fig. 11, an edge plan of Fig. 10; Fig. 12, a side elevation of a wear-plate used with the auxiliary bridge-plate shown in Fig. 10; Fig. 13, an edge plan of Fig. 12; and Fig. 14, a detail perspective view of a cap or plug used in the mouth of each of the oil wells or cups in the wheel supportingboxes.

1 indicates the socket-member of the harp adapted to be mounted at the outer end of the trolley-pole, which latter is not shown.

' 2 indicates each one of the usual pair of arms projecting fork-fashion from the outer end of the said socket-member and preferably made integral therewith, as one tomary. Near the outer ends of the arms 2 I provide, however, rectangular seats or Specification of Lctters'Patent. Application filed September 5, 1916. Serial n. 113,462.

Patented Apr. 15, 1919.

jaws 3, facing, at a slope, upwardly, and adapted to receive the bearing-blocks or supporting-inserts 4, the latter, in turn, having constructed on their inner faces the circular .members 5 whose outer faces are plane and with their inner faces sloped or beveled in opposite directions from their perpendicular high-points or centers, as best shown at 6 in Figs. 1 and 5, so as to form rock or oscillatory surfaces, as hereinafter more particularly referred to.

7 indicates the circular, circumferentiallygrooved body-portion of the trolley-wheel having a circular central orifice 8 that contains the sleeve or bushing, the latter being made in two corresponding semicircular parts or segments 10, as best shown in Figs. and 8, and each of such corresponding segments having a hemispherical recess or cavity toform a seat orbearing for the enlarged,

spherical central portion 11,0f the wheelshaft whose oppositely-extending bearingends 12 journal in the transverse openings 13 that are provided in the members 5 and their supporting-inserts 4, the latter being adapted to be readily slid into seating-place in the jaws 3 of the harp-arms 2.

14 is a lock or set screw for fastening one of the segments 10 in place, it being ample to secure both of the segments in the central orifice 8 of the wheel when the wheel-shaft is in position for use.

15 is an oil-well leading from the outer end of each of the bearing-blocks 4 to the transverse opening 13 to provide for the lubrication of the shaft-extension 12, and 16 i is a cap removably fitting within the mouth of each of said oil-wells 15.

17 indicates set-screws for detachably securing the bearing-blocks in place in the jaws 3 of the harp-arms.

18 indicates sockets diametrically-opposite each other in the spherical-portion 11 of the shaft and 19 indicates tapered pins whose inner ends extend from the centers of the hemispherical cavities in the segments 10. as best shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

The inner ends of pins 19 are of lesser diameter than that of the sockets 18 to make due allowance for the lateral or sidewise, pivotal movements of the wheel, that are parallel with the trolley-wire, enlarged orifices or openings 20 being provided at the transverse center of the assembled segments 10 for the free, horizontally pivotal movements of the wheel on the extendedshafts 12, the spherical-member 11 really forming a ball-bearing for the said lateral pivotal-movements of the Wheel, and the pins 19 forming limiting-stops for such lateral movements and preventing the inner edges of the central orifices 20 contacting with the extended-shafts 12. r

The wheel is enabled to be always brought to a common center after gliding around a curve or the like, and to be further coupled to the spherical-member 11 by means of the pins 19 for the ordinary rotary-movement thereof and to have said lateral, horizontally-pivotal play to the extent of the sockets 18 in the said member 11, for easy gliding along the wire at all points therein, and parallel thereto with a minimum of friction and consequent less wear, and especially where it bends 0r extends around curves or in any parts thereof away from a straight line that would otherwise tend to throw or divert the wheel from place on the wire, or the latter from place in the Wheel groove. In the said lateral horizontallypivotal movements of the Wheel it has a substantial bearing at both sides on the cam or. oppositely-sloped faces 6 of the circularmembers 5 that are mounted on the shaftblocks 4, and electric-contact is absolutely assured, from the wire to the wheel and thence through the harp and onward into the trolley-pole, by means of resilient plates 21 whose inner ends are hooked at 22 and fastened by means of bars 23 and screws 2a to the inner faces of the harp-arms 2, said screws 24 passing through the plain openings 25 (Fig. 3) in said harp-arms and into the threaded openings 26 in the bars 23 (Fig. 6). The plates 21 are bent at 27 to conform to the oppositely-sloped inner faces 6 of the members 5 and no matter how the wheel or itshub portion moves a full contact is maintained by the resiliency of the plates that presses them against one or the other of said oppositely-sloping faces 6, and the current from the wire must pass therefrom to the wheel and thence'direct to the Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents,

harp without sparking or leakage. The circular portions of the plates 21 are pierced at 28 for engagement with the extended shafts 12, the hooks 22 and bars 23, together With the screws 24 preventing the turning of said contact-plates 21 with the shafts.

Auxiliary, circular contact-plates 29 are provided in connection with the main contact-plates 21 to offset wear of the latter and are constructed as best shown in Fig. 13, central holes 30 being made therein for engagement with the shafts 12, and a rear hooked-extension 31 is constructed on each plate 29 for removable-engagement with a slot 32 (Fig. 10) and thereby adapted to be readily exchanged for new auxiliary-plates when worn and thus saving the main contact-plates 21 from wear.

An attaching-eye 33 for the trolley-rope is provided on the harp-socket 1, and, also, a set-screw 84 fordetachably-securing said harp-socket to the pole.

1. In a trolley-wheel device, a peripherally-grooved rim, a segmental-bush having radial pins projecting toward the wheel axis, a spherical-bearing having transverse or lateral shaft-extensions disposed in out let orifices of larger area in said segmentalbush, play and stop sockets in said sphericalbearing for said radial pins, and a harp having bearing-ends with oppositely-sloped inner faces for the pivotal or rocking contact of'the wheel mounted therein.

2. In a trolley-wheel device, a peripherally-grooved rim, a central bearing-bush or hub, a spherical-bearingiin said bush having oppositely-extended transverse bearingshafts of lesser diameter than theoutlet orifices of said bush, a harp having oppositelysloping rocker-faces on the inner faces of bearing blocks or inserts carried by its arms, and removable bearings in the harp-arms adapted to support the said transverse bearing-shafts of the wheel.

JOHN c. DARNALLQ Washington, D. 0. 

